Actions have Consequences
by SassyJ
Summary: Sam struggles to deal with the fallout from the end of her relationship with Stuart
1. Accident?

Sam and Phil walked back into CID, the morning had gone well, court had gone as expected and the villain had been sent down.

Crossing to her desk, Sam had time to wonder where Stuart and Jo were. She hadn't seen either of them when she dropped in to the office briefly before her court appearance. Stuart hadn't taken their break up all that well, and Sam was feeling a bit guilty. It had been awkward the previous evening at the pub when Phil had cuddled up to her, and they'd exchanged kisses. When she'd come up for air, she'd caught the strangest look on Stuart's face. He'd left shortly afterwards, and Jo had excused herself and hurried after him.

Neil was back at his desk, and he looked up when she entered their office. "How did it go?"

"Two years." Sam looked back to the open office, "Stuart and Jo not in yet?" she asked casually.

"Apparently, Stuart had a bit of an accident last night, and Jo will be in after lunch." Neil shrugged.

"Oh." Sam frowned, that was odd. "Is he alright?"

"Apparently he's going to be fine."

"What happened?" Sam asked carefully.

"No idea. Some kind of accident."

She looked back into the office and saw Jo coming through the door, she was about to wave, but Jo went straight into the DCI's office, and closed the door behind her. Puzzled, Sam turned back to her desk and paperwork, Jo was bound to come and talk it over with her afterwards, so Sam decided to wait.

* * *

Jo faced Meadows across his desk. "Stuart's going to be fine but he's done quite a lot damage which will take a bit of time to heal." She looked down at her hands, wondering whether she had ever felt so angry in her life, but she wasn't prepared to lose control of her emotions here. "He's being released this afternoon, and he's coming home with me because he can't look after himself for a bit. And we'll take it from there."

Jack looked at her, grave and worried, "Occupational health will want to talk to him."

"With respect guv, I don't really think that's a very good idea."

"Jo, in these circumstances, it is usual."

"So far, only you and I know what really happened. He didn't mean to do it, he was drunk and upset, and it was a sudden impulse thing while he wasn't thinking straight." She leaned forward, "He'll never do it again, and I really think he needs space to come to terms with what he's done and why it happened. Please guv."

Jack Meadows sighed heavily. He trusted Jo's judgement, and while he should be reporting this to Occupational Health, he was prepared to stick his neck out a little for Stuart. He'd been horrified when Jo had phoned him, and he'd headed straight to the hospital. Stuart had been in a bad way, and Jo had been stressed and tearful, and she'd pleaded with Meadows to keep it quiet. Reluctantly he'd agreed. And he couldn't back out now.

He nodded. "Okay Jo, we'll play it your way."

* * *

Jo sat at her desk and stared at her screen. Last night had been one of the worst of her life. Stuart had been upset, and when they reached his place, he'd proceeded to drink his way through a bottle of Jack Daniels that someone had given him and Sam for a present. She'd tried to intervene, then she'd tried to get him to go to bed. She'd stayed, he was restless and she had thought he shouldn't have to be alone. _Good thing I did._ What had happened had been a moment of pure drunken madness. But the consequences could have been much worse. He'd hurt himself quite badly, but no real lasting damage was done. When he'd woken up in hospital, and realised exactly what he'd done he'd been apologetic and tearful, and Jo's heart had turned over as his usual cocky defenses just crumbled away, and he'd leaned into her arms desperate for some reassurance.

What really wound her up was Sam's apparent lack of concern over how Stuart might feel about her and Phil. It seemed to Jo, that Sam and Phil had gone out of their way to rub it in that they were a couple, without thinking for a moment about the consequences of their actions.

_All actions have consequences._ She pondered the inevitable nature of consequences for a moment. A bleak expression crossed her face, as she contemplated the probable consequences if she had not stayed last night.

* * *

Sam thought about several opening gambits she could try as she tried to make her way to Jo's desk in what she hoped was a casual manner. Jo's expression was rather off putting, but Sam felt she had known Jo for long enough to start up a conversation and find out what had happened to Stuart with considerable ease. They were friends. They'd shared confidences before.

What she'd hadn't planned on overcoming was the cold silence as Jo just stared at her computer screen. To all intents and purposes she was filling out paperwork, but Sam could see that her heart wasn't in it. She seemed far away.

"Jo..." Sam tried the simplest approach _be direct_. "How's Stuart?"

"He'll be fine... Eventually." Jo looked up at Sam as though she didn't recognise her.

Sam huffed inwardly at Jo's tone, not openly hostile, it was far less friendly than their relationship dictated and Sam felt hurt. Feeling hurt, she automatically went into retreat. "Okay..."

Jo stared hard at her friend. Part of her wanted to leap up and shout at her, part wanted to lash out and wound her as she had wounded Stuart. But she held it all in. For Stuart's sake.

* * *

Sam had regrouped, and bolstered by Phil's presence, she was determined to get to the bottom of what was going on. Meadows had seemed particularly reserved and Sam was feeling insecure again.

So Sam and Phil were on Jo's doorstep. Sam knocked. There was no answer for a moment, then the door opened. Jo seemed even more distant than she had at the station and Sam found herself wondering if she had offended Jo in some way.

"Jo, can we talk?" Sam smiled encouragingly. Phil hovered in the background

"It isn't convenient right now." Jo's tone seemed off and she seemed ready to shut the door, then caught sight of Sam's hurt expression and sighed inwardly. "It really isn't convenient, but you had better come in." She stepped aside and let them both in. As Phil passed her, there was a crash from the kitchen, and a male voice cursed.

"Jo..." Stuart came out of the kitchen. He stopped dead... "Sam...I... Phil" he acknowledged the older man with a curt nod of his head.

Sam and Phil stared back in growing horror. Stuart was dressed in jeans and a shirt, but the sleeves of the shirt were rolled up, and his wrists were heavily padded and bandaged.

Sam stepped forward as if to put her arms around him, but he turned his head aside and stepped back, and she paused uncertain what to do. He was clearly distressed at her presence.

"Stuart, I... what have you done to yourself."

He shook his head in distress, and backed away again. Phil turned grey under his tan. He took one look at the heavy padding on Stuart's forearms and knew that he'd slashed his wrists. That Stuart felt deeply enough to do such a thing hadn't occurred to Phil and it shocked him to his core.

"Stu... mate." He paused awkwardly, and Stuart seemed almost unaware of his presence. Jo stepped into the breach, she moved between them, and put her arm around Stuart's shoulders, "Come on hun." She gently guided him into the sitting room. Sam and Phil awkwardly following.

"Sam, a word!" Jo looked up at Phil. "Stay with him." She murmured. Phil nodded, feeling ever so slightly sick.

Sam followed Jo, she was feeling slightly queasy herself, and guilty. That Stuart had been hit harder by their break up than she thought was the thing that hurt worst of all. Sam always prided herself on her understanding of people, and she'd neatly pigeonholed Stuart as an arrogant idiot, without thinking twice about it. And he wasn't as untouched by the experience as she had thought.

"Sam, I didn't want you two here tonight." Typical Jo, direct and to the point. "Stuart's been hurt enough, but he needs to find a way through this. Last night, he got drunk and did what he did in a moment of drunken defiance."

"Jo, I never meant to hurt him," Sam tried to defend herself, as she acknowledged the truth of what Jo was saying, "I just didn't think that he really felt like that."

Jo snapped, the strain and distress of the last twenty four hours overloaded, "last night, I held a devasted little boy in my arms, who was crying his heart out... for his mother... in French. This morning I did a little digging, it wasn't difficult, most of it was just a phone call. Did you know Stuart's mother walked out on him one night when he was thirteen and he's never seen her since. That he was alone with his father, and then his father fell ill and Stuart nursed him until he died in a hospice when Stuart was only seventeen. I would say that he's been hurt more than enough, wouldn't you?"

"I never knew..." Sam shook her head slowly. Truth was, she'd wanted a simple uncomplicated relationship and Stuart had appeared to offer that. Then she'd fallen in love with Phil. _If the miscarriage had never happened._ She shook her head again, she was never in love with Stuart, it was just fun on her side, and she'd thought because of his response to the pregnancy that that was all he wanted too. She prided herself on her understanding of people and what made them tick, and that she misread Stuart so badly came as a shock.

* * *

Phil sat opposite Stuart and tried to think of something to say. "Stuart, look... mate..." he began, but Stuart cut him off.

"Not your fault, my own stupid fault... with some help from Mr Jack Daniels'" Stuart's grin was slightly cockeyed and the look in his eyes didn't quite match the grin, but Phil was relieved all the same.

"Much damage..." Phil indicated Stuart's bandages.

Stuart looked down at his hands, "No, I was too drunk to do anything permanent, but it bloody hurts." He reached out for the glass of juice with both hands, "and there are a few other problems, such as I can't grip anything properly with one hand, and getting dressed is a bit of a bugger." He awkwardly tilted the glass with both hands, and drank some of the juice, managing to spill some of it on his shirt too. And cursed under his breath. Phil moved as if to help, Stuart shook his head. "Nah, mate... it's ok." He replaced the glass on the table. "Jo's been helping me." For a second something flickered in his eyes, and Phil was suddenly curious. _Stuart and Jo_? He shook his head slightly, _impossible._

A noise behind him and Phil looked up, Sam was standing in the doorway. She silently motioned to him to make himself scarce. Phil nodded and got to his feet, leaving them alone.

Sam moved to sit next to Stuart on the sofa. His face was slightly turned away from her, and his body language screamed defensiveness, but she sat down anyway. Gently took his right hand in both of hers, encouraged that he didn't pull his hand away. "Stuart, I..." her voice wobbled a bit and she swallowed, he wasn't going to make it easy on her, and she could scarcely blame him.

"Stuart, we didn't plan it. It just happened."

"I know." he looked at her, and she got it, he was giving her the public face, the one he gave to everybody, _Stuart Turner, supercop_. Yet Jo had slid beneath his defenses so easily. And for a moment Sam wondered if there was anything between them, _Stuart and Jo?_ She shook her head slightly, _that's impossible. _ She turned her attention back to the problem in hand, Stuart's battered soul, and this was going to be a lot more difficult than she had imagined. His hand lay passively in hers, neither accepting her touch nor rejecting it, and Sam realised that for all the front and the defensiveness, Stuart felt a lot more than she had suspected. And that he'd buried himself deep inside this fake persona, to protect himself. Just as he'd convinced himself that it was okay to let his guard down, she'd slammed the door in his face. Then she'd rubbed it in, going off with Phil. Sam knew there was no easy fix, and that getting Stuart to let her heal the wound she'd unintentionally inflicted on him, was going to be the hardest part.

She badly wanted to hug him, and try to kiss it better, but she held off, knowing instinctively that would have been a mistake, it would have seemed like pity to him. So she contented herself with holding his hand.

* * *

Jo put the last of the washing up away, and headed for bed. She entered her room, he'd managed to peel his shirt off, and undone the button on his jeans, now he was struggling with the zip. "Stu..." she sighed, "let me." Frustrated he struggled to keep a grip on the zipper tab, his stiffened and sore muscles protesting. "STU." Jo snapped, firmly pushed his hands out of the way and slid his zip down. The bruised look was back in his eyes, and she hugged him, helping him ease out of his jeans, "come on hun". She climbed into bed, holding the duvet up so that he could crawl in beside her, and he cuddled up close. It seemed the most natural thing in the world to them both, and they gravitated into each other's arms without the slightest trace of embarrassment.

He snuggled against her, and put his head on her shoulder, Jo slid her arm firmly round him and got comfortable. Sensed his eyes on her, asking a question.

"What?" she watched him.

"Nothing." he closed his eyes.

As she allowed herself to drift away, he murmured in her ear. "Thanks... hun."

"What for" she muttered sleepily.

"Saving my life," and he gently kissed her on the cheek.


	2. Facing up to the truth

Sam made her way back to CID, it had been a long day, and was about to get longer, because she had paperwork that couldn't wait. And she wanted some time alone to think, and consider what she was going to do next.

Stuart had been off work a week, and had returned with wrist braces and two months of physiotherapy to endure. The cause of his "accident" was the subject of much speculation and conjecture, and for the first time Sam truly saw just how defensive he could be. Every question, direct or indirect was met with a polite neutrality that left the questioner with nowhere to go.

Which raised another problem. His relationship with Sam and Phil. Strangely enough he seemed to get on better with Phil since they'd cleared the air at Jo's place, but his relationship with Sam had deteriorated. He was polite, coolly watchful and distant, never being alone with her at any point. She had twice partnered herself with him on operations, and found herself mysteriously partnered with someone else when it came to the actual event. Sam knew that he was distancing himself from further hurt, but she was determined to heal the rift.

But how to get close enough to do something about it.

She was about to enter the darkened CID offices, when she realised that they weren't quite dark and they weren't empty. Stuart was sat at his desk, and Jo was perched on the corner. Sam couldn't hear what was being said, but then Jo reached out and took his right hand in both of hers.

Sam watched as Jo undid the velcro straps that held the wrist brace secure and stripped it away, gently massaging Stuart's hand and wrist. Even from almost fifteen feet away under the rather poor lighting from the desk lamp on Stuart's desk, Sam could see the marks that marred his skin. She caught her breath at the angry puckered red lines that crisscrossed the inside of his wrist. He'd really made a mess of himself.

Sam Nixon was getting used to learning that things were not always as they appear. That Stuart felt things a lot more deeply than he was ever likely to let on in front of her or the rest of the relief, with the exception of Jo. And that the unlikely friendship between seasoned, intuitive, gay cop Jo and cocky, brash, and definitely heterosexual cop Stuart, went a lot deeper and was more meaningful than Sam had imagined. He was looking up at her as she massaged his injured wrist, and he said something that Sam couldn't hear, but she could hear Jo's laughter, and the way they looked at each other as they shared their private joke; and it occurred to Sam that Stuart had never looked at her like that, even at the beginning before it had all gone wrong.

They were clearly comfortable and happy together, whatever the differences between them, those didn't seem to matter at all. Sam knew that Stuart was still living with Jo, even though he could have gone home a couple of weeks before, and watching them together a little flicker of something entered her mind. Getting Jo onside might help.

* * *

"I'm sorry Sam. I can't do that." Jo looked at her friend with genuine regret and a little irritation in her eyes, "I'll talk to Stu, and see if I can do something, but trying to trick him into opening up to you won't work. And I can guarantee that it will make things worse."

Sam inwardly acknowledged the truth of this, even though she was fresh out of ideas. "You will talk to him Jo, because we can't go on like this forever."

"Sam, I don't think it will be forever, but he's having trouble coming to terms with your split and how it all happened." Jo looked at her closely, and a frown came over her face, "are you sure that this really is in Stu's best interests, or is it something that you and Phil have dreamed up?"

"JO!" Sam was shocked, even though that was Jo to the end, forthright as ever.

"I had to ask." Jo smiled rather dryly. "Because I do have Stu's best interests at heart."

"I know." Sam acknowledged.

* * *

Stuart dropped his wrist braces on the bedside table and slid beneath the covers next to Jo. She helped him with the nightly exercises that the physio had recommended, and truth be told he didn't really need the brace for his left wrist anymore unless he was really tired, but since it covered the mess he had made of his wrist, he kept it. And if he was being completely straight about it, he did kind of enjoy the extra sympathy he got from his female colleagues.

His right wrist was a different matter. Being very drunk, and right handed, he'd made a clumsy mess of his right wrist with the boning knife he'd used. At first they'd thought that he'd done very little damage, but time and physiotherapy had proved that wrong. The healing process for his right hand was going to be quite slow and long drawn out. Grabbing a suspect and handcuffing him, no problem, fine motor skills such as signing a report or lifting a mug of coffee, big nightmare. His thumb was still stiff and his fingers had much more limited movement than those of his left hand. And it was all a lot more painful. He now made sure he grabbed all hot spillable drinks with his left hand, and waited until the end of the day before signing anything.

Being honest with himself, a small part of him enjoyed being with Jo and being taken care of and he didn't want it to end. Which led to the biggest problem of the lot, his growing feelings for Jo. At first cuddling up to her had been pure comfort, and when the nightmares came, and he woke himself up, she was always there for him, endlessly patient and caring. But as time had gone on, he was starting to fall for her in a big way. Desperate not to make a mess of it, he'd started turning the shower to cold and standing under the freezing flow for five minutes before going to bed. Not that that helped much, her gentle fingers, tenderly massaging his hand and wrist, helping him go through the exercises recommended by the physio, started triggering warm feelings of well being and something more intimate. He tried very hard not to press to close to her, and make his feelings too obvious.

Jo lay back and pondered the difficulties. She was out and proud, gay and far from ashamed of it, but somehow the cocky, brash, young sergeant with a devious streak a mile wide had sneaked under her defenses. She was very fond of Stuart, and finding out about his unfortunate childhood and the loss of both his parents at such an early age, struck a chord within her. It wasn't as though she had never ever been with a man, it was just that that wasn't her personal choice. And this was Stuart. She'd seen Stuart and Sam spontaneously combust, which was what had led directly to the situation they were now in.

Jo gently took hold of his right wrist and he turned towards her. The moment she touched his skin, she knew he'd taken yet another cold shower, he was chilled, the fine hairs standing up on his arm, and she was sure if she reached out and pulled him close to her, he would be shivering too. She massaged his hand and forearm, carefully ignoring each hissed intake of breath as he struggled to keep the pain from her, although she hated that what she was doing hurt so much, it was for his own good.

_Stuart's wellbeing, his best interests... _Jo pondered that question as she massaged the back of his hand and down his wrist, _like it or not my girl, it is in his best interests to make it up with Sam_. That Stuart seemed to have "forgiven" Phil, she took as an encouraging sign.

"Stu." she began, _best try and get it over with._

"mmmmm" he lay on his side with his eyes closed, occasionally wincing as she reached a painful spot.

"You and Sam need to clear the air." Jo was direct, she had never seen the point of skirting round a problem, not facing the problem down was what had led to Stuart's stupid mistake, _conveniently overlooking your own little problem..._

Silence from the other side of the bed, and letting go of his hand, she turned to face him. His eyes were half open, and he was looking at her with a mixture of distress and something that she could not define on his face.

"Stu, what about just talking to Sam?" Jo quietly pleaded, and gently reached out to put an arm around his neck in a comforting sort of way.

Stuart closed his eyes, she was much closer, and he couldn't even hold Sam in his mind, because his heart and mind and head were full of Jo. He breathed in slowly, she was right there, three or four inches, and his lips would meet hers, the fantasy tripped through his mind, and suddenly he was kissing her.

Jo was startled when he bent his head to kiss her, but it seemed natural and a part of her wanted to just let it happen, her lips parted, and she deepened the kiss, taking the initiative. His hand slid round her waist and gently encouraged her closer, as their bodies touched, Jo realised just how badly he wanted to be close to her. Her eyes opened, and gazed into his, and she saw that this wasn't only physical, he put his hand up to caress her cheek, the love light shining in his eyes.

Jo looked into his eyes, and realised that she wanted to take it further, knowing that even now he would back off if she asked him to. She pressed herself closer, leaning in to his kiss, and he swung himself over her, catching his weight on his forearms. Which was when things came to an abrupt halt. His right wrist buckled and he almost collapsed on top of her, just managing to push himself to one side. Jo sat up, his eyes were screwed shut and he was biting his bottom lip, very gently she lifted his right wrist, he whimpered when she touched it. "Stu, what have you done?" Jo spoke softly, she gently manipulated his hand and wrist and he cried out in earnest when she moved it.

"This isn't good." Jo gently put his arm down, and slid out of bed. "We'd better get you to hospital."

His eyes opened, and she could see real pain in their warm depths, "stay" he whispered. She sat back down for a moment, and he moved into her arms, resting his head on her thigh. "Jo, I..." he started to speak.

"Stu, I wanted us too," Jo ran her fingers through his hair, "but, we had better get your wrist checked out."

"I know." he grumbled as he burrowed closer, and hissed with pain as she touched his wrist again. "ahhhh...that hurts!" he bit his bottom lip again. "Dammit." he looked up at her ruefully, "I need another cold shower."

She grinned, despite her worry, "come on lover, that can wait." She reached over him and picked up the right hand wrist brace, sliding it on his hand, she wrapped the velcro strapping around it securing it. By the time she had finished, Stuart's eyes were screwed tight shut, and he'd gone a strange shade of greyish white. Jo dressed herself quickly, helped him dress and then looked in her drawers for something to support his arm, finding a large scarf she made a sling out of it to support his wrist.

* * *

Stuart sat on the hospital gurney and listened vaguely to what the doctor was saying, conscious only that Jo was sat next to him, her thigh pressed against his, her fingers entwined with those of his left hand. _Rest, icepack, nothing strenuous, tendons inflamed_ blah, blah, blah. He tuned the doctor out and concentrated on being this close to Jo. The doctor finished speaking, and Jo was saying something to him, Stuart dragged himself back to the present in time to hear that his wrist was going to get a more secure strapping..._more waiting around_... he sighed with frustration, all he wanted to do was go back home and continue where they left off.


	3. Making up

Stuart paused outside the Inspectors' Office. He wanted to catch Sam on her own, and say his piece before he chickened out. He didn't like doing feelings, from his experience keeping a distance between himself and his colleagues was the best way. Of course, that had been mostly blown out of the water since he'd arrived at Sun Hill, something about the people in this place had got under his skin. He'd gone out with Samantha Nixon because she was beautiful and a prize to be won, and then when it had all gone wrong, he'd realised that she'd touched his heart in a way that just hadn't happened before, for a moment he'd seen himself through the eyes of another, strictly fun stuff, not a keeper, and that had hurt. But when she'd turned to the office Casanova in his place, Stuart had felt lost, hurt and angry, and so he'd got drunk. The consequences of that little escapade were still painfully with him.

Jo. The woman who had walked into his life and heart without him even realising it. She'd walked home with him that night. She'd listened to his hurt and drunken ramblings. She'd calmly put him to bed and she'd stayed, she'd cared. The bitter memory of his own stupidity rose up again. He didn't remember all of it, he remembered picking the knife up, ironically, he'd never used it before. He remembered excruciating pain. He remembered stumbling out of the kitchen, blood everywhere, he remembered Jo's voice, at first angry, then soothing, her arms round him, her hands holding his wrists, stemming the flow of blood, and then it all went sideways and he was a teenage boy again, waking up in the middle of the night, knowing that something was wrong, that his life would never be the same again, calling out for his mother, and being certain that she wouldn't answer.

He'd woken up in the hospital and seen Jo sitting there next to his bed. No recriminations, even though he knew he'd given her a really bad time. She'd calmly saved his life, and stayed with him through the horrors of what came next. He'd scared her half to death, and he looked to see if she blamed him for that, when she'd gently stroked his cheek and soothed his fears, his remorse for what he'd put her through was genuine. He'd fallen apart completely, and Jo hadn't flinched then either. She'd put her arms round him and held him as though he was worth something. And that meant a lot to Stuart.

Unexpectedly he'd found the soulmate of his life in the most unlikely of circumstances. He'd been surprised by joy, but he needed to close the door on the past, and that meant, as Jo had pointed out, he needed to heal the rift with Sam. There were other things too, but they could wait, he wasn't ready to face those.

He stood back and looked into Sam's office, she was alone, and he needed to do this. He took a deep breath and knocked.

She looked up. "Stuart." she looked slightly surprised and just a little wary.

"Sam, can I have a word" he looked at her pleadingly. To his relief she looked a little less wary, perhaps even a bit hopeful. He stepped into the office and pushed the door closed behind him. He sat in the chair on the other side of her desk, and took a deep breath. "Sam, I'm sorry."

"About what?" she wasn't going to make it easy on him, and perhaps by his recent actions he'd lost the right to that.

"I made a lot of mistakes, and I'm sorry that I treated you like the enemy." he looked at her, "Sam, please forgive me."

Sam looked down at the blotter on her desk, and held on to her emotions with difficulty. To hear Stuart opening up like that was something she never thought she would hear. He was so private, so closed off, that she'd not really looked beyond the handsome, fun loving exterior. Her relationship with him had been strictly fun stuff, they'd liked each other and when he had said _where's the harm_ she'd allowed herself to believe that there was no harm, no foul. That she could have a relationship without complications, strictly in the moment. That had changed from the moment she'd found that she was pregnant. Well she'd made some big mistakes of her own. The first was allowing herself to turn to Phil first, before she'd even told Stuart. The second had been her expectation that Stuart would react and behave exactly the way he had. She'd expected him to panic, without even considering that there might have been deeper causes behind his surface appearance. She'd been looking for reasons not to go on with the relationship, and Stuart had given her her get out clause.

Sam got to her feet, and walked round her desk, and crouched down in front of him. "Stuart, I... there's nothing to forgive, we both made some pretty bad mistakes." She held out her hand, and he took it awkwardly, she looked down at the heavy strapping and support on his right wrist. "Stu, what on earth have you done this time?" To her surprise he blushed and looked awkward.

"Err... it happened last night. I just overestimated how much better my wrist was, is all!" his colour deepened.

Curiosity piqued, Sam looked at him closely. "You've met someone, haven't you?" He nodded, a slightly shy smile on his face. Sam took in his somewhat poleaxed expression and realised that this was a very big deal to him, so she didn't dig, and just for a second a strange and perplexing thought crossed her mind. _Stuart and Jo._ The idea was a strange one, but just for a few seconds it didn't seem that impossible to her, and she wondered why.

Stuart stood up, pulling Sam with him, and bent to kiss her cheek. "Friends?"

She smiled, and reaching up, kissed him swiftly on the cheek. "Friends." she grinned, "but that doesn't mean I'm suddenly going to make things easy on you."

He backed out the door, an amused grin on his face, "No ma'am. I didn't think it would."

Sam turned back to her desk and the extremely dull paperwork, suddenly her heart felt a lot lighter. She smiled to herself, _Stuart in love_, well they'd never really been in love, but it was nice to know that she'd found the key to Stuart at last, and that he was a lot more complicated than she had thought. Her judgement had been blunted by the public face that he showed to the world.

* * *

Sam walked out into the cool night air, Phil and the others had left almost an hour ago, and she was the last one in CID. She headed towards the Seven Bells, a drink, sometime with her friends, unwinding at the end of the day, then she and Phil would go home and make dinner, curl up together and just make time for each other. _Sounds like the perfect plan._ She was nearing the pub when she realised that Stuart was walking across the car park, and he wasn't alone. Sam paused to watch, she wasn't spying on him, but...

They were ten feet away, oblivious to anything but each other. Jo turned to face him as they reached her car. "I told you." Sam could hear her saying.

"You were right." Stuart replied. "But then you always are." He stepped closer, smiling at her.

Jo laughed, and slid her arms around his neck, "Don't you forget it either." His hands were resting on her waist, and he slid them round her, pulling her against him.

"How could I?"

Then he kissed her.

Sam watched as they melted passionately into each other's arms, something gentle and joyous in their love, and her heart skipped a beat. Happy that through all the muddle and mess, that they'd found true happiness in each other, and happy that they'd all been able to move on. The healing process had begun.

Sam left them to each other, and walked on, because unless she was much mistaken, a certain Detective Sergeant Hunter and a half pint of something cool and refreshing were demanding her urgent attention inside.


End file.
